Nothing, Briana says, can completely remove the pain she experiences from sickle cell disease. But a virtual reality game that transports her to an underwater adventure helps more than almost anything else.

“It calms you down a lot because you’re not thinking about the pain and stressing about when it’s going to stop,” Briana said. “It’s like you’re just a scuba diver, and you’re swimming with the dolphins and the whales.”

Briana is part of a study at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland testing the use of virtual reality technology to distract kids with sickle cell disease from the at-times excruciating pain that is a hallmark of their condition. Twenty-five children are enrolled in the study so far, and five more will join over the next few months.